Kobe Bryant, on all sorts of issues. Asked if he thought a title here might mean more, since this is clearly "his" team? "Probably."

Phil Jackson, on prepping his team:

"This issue of being prepared and the preparedness of a team is always what your coaching is about. Most of the time, you want to go to a game and anticipate that what they've gone through in practice is going to prepare them for what they have to go through in a game... Last year, we weren't quite prepared for the type of game we were going to have to play against Boston. It has nothing to do with Boston as it has to do with the playoffs."